Melania Trump's "Be Best" Initiative Looks a Lot Like Work the Obama White House Already Did

The White House issued a statement defending Melania Trump's "Be Best" initiative. According to USA Today, Trump spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham issued a statement condemning what she called the "opposition media" for comparing Melania's "strong" initiative proposal to the work of former First Lady Michelle Obama and the administration of her husband, former President Barack Obama.

"Mrs. Trump agreed to add Be Best branding and distribute the booklet in an effort to use her platform to amplify the positive message within," the statement said, speaking specifically to allegations that Melania's initiative repackaged an Obama-era pamphlet on navigating online spaces for children. "As she said in yesterday’s speech, she is going to use Be Best to promote people and organizations to encourage conversation and replication, and helping the FTC distribute this booklet is just one small example."

Grisham said the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which produced the pamphlet, had approached the the first lady about including the material in her initiative rollout. She pointed to an FTC blog post detailing how Melania agreed. Grisham added in an email to USA Today, "[The pamphlet] was updated and edited to reflect today’s event and we were happy to be able to provide the children in attendance with such a resource."

Previously...

Melania Trump outlined her new political initiative at a White House Rose Garden ceremony Monday, and it didn’t take long for Twitter users to call out the First Lady for presenting work that seems a lot like former First Lady Michelle Obama's.

Melania said her “Be Best” initiative would focus on children’s well-being, including the effects of cyberbullying and the opioid epidemic on American youth, saying, “As a mother and as First Lady, it concerns me that in today’s fast-paced and ever-connected world, children can be less prepared to express or manage their emotions and oftentimes turn to forms of destructive or addictive behavior such as bullying, drug addiction, or even suicide.”

Twitter users were quick to point out similarities they saw between Melania’s program and Michelle's work — such as the resemblance between Melania’s “Be Best” slogan and Michelle’s “Be better” line of advice to men, from 2016’s White House United State of Women Summit.

Melania’s Monday announcement came with the distribution of a children’s online safety pamphlet, written by the Federal Trade Commission, titled, “Talking With Kids About Being Online.” The pamphlet begins with Melania's official White House portrait, along with her introduction, which says the pamphlet’s information “can help kids act thoughtfully and kindly.”

This is not the first time the pamphlet’s information has seen the light of day, though. A nearly identical pamphlet was already released by the FTC in 2014 under the title, “Net Cetera: Chatting With Kids About Being Online.” The final page of the 2014 pamphlet directs readers to the FTC site, onguardonline.gov, while Monday’s version points to bebest.gov and FTC.gov/kidsonline.

Melania has been criticized by people who have found similarities between her work and Michelle's work in the past. Memorably, Melania faced accusations of plagiarism after she delivered her 2016 Republican National Convention speech, which bore resemblance to a speech Michelle delivered at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. A staffer later took the blame for the speech’s phrasing, which was nearly identical to Michelle's speech in some points.